Ever The Same
by SVU-Obsessed
Summary: A murdered teen in Central Park leads to a case that hits too close to home for two detectives.Chapter Three: Fights, Fears and Suspects: Elliot talks to Kathy, Warner can't find a cause of death, and ballistics finally give them a hand.
1. Returns, Requests, and Murder Victims

This is my first SVU story in a very long time, so please, go easy on me :). I've tried to stick as closely to the show's format as possible, and hopefully true to the characters. This first chapter's a little strange, but it'll all make sense later. All reviews are greatly appreciated.

_**Angela Manning**_

**_Tuesday, September 12th_**

I ducked into one of the spare bedrooms, turned off the light, and lied down on the floor. That only made my dizziness worse, and quickly sat up, resting my head against the bed. . . or dresser. . . it was something like that. God, I had had way too much to drink. I was so close though. I managed the 12 tequila shots that I had to. . . they'd finally accept me in their "group", wouldn't they? Too much thinking. I had to concentrate on not puking.

He knocked on the door and came in, switching on the light.

"Sorry," I said quickly, trying to stand up. "I didn't mean to sneak around your house. I just needed to- get away from the party for a little."

"Don't worry about it."

I managed a small smile and pretended I wasn't about to throw up. They didn't seem so bad after all. Lee had been wrong after all.

And then it happened. Then he leaned in and kissed me.

_**Olivia**_

**_Wednesday, September 13th_**

Breathe in, breathe out. Two blocks to go. I had definitely underestimated the actual distance of the trail I was taking for my run. Already I could feel the build-up in my legs that would lead to soreness later in the day.

I finally made it home, and stopped on the doorstep to breathe before I let myself in. I still hadn't met my neighbours. Then again, it was New York, and I wasn't living in a commune anymore. They probably wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anyways.

I switched on the lights, stretched, and stumbled through the mess on the floor to get over to what was left of the washroom. I ran the water hot and prepared to get into the shower. My heart still hadn't stopped pounding though. It wasn't from the run anymore, but from my nerves. This morning I was going back to SVU.

_**Elliot**_

I entered the station at the same time as Munch, who was trying to balance two trays of coffee and a box of doughnuts. I pulled the door open for him.

"You went out for coffee? What's the special occasion?" I asked him teasingly.

"Well, I thought we should have something to celebrate, and the captain won't let us use champagne because we're still expected to work today-buzz kill, huh? Anyways, I thought this would be the next best thing."

"Celebrate?" I asked.

"Come on Elliot, I know you two haven't been getting along great the past couple of months, but don't get like this."

"Wait, do you mean-?" I didn't finish my question, since the answer was standing right in front of me. Her hair was longer and lighter, but there was no mistaking her, even from behind.

Olivia.

I didn't say anything while Munch passed out coffees, and no one noticed me standing at the side. To my surprise, Olivia turned down the coffee and instead was sipping some kind of fruity-looking drink. Fin said something, and they all laughed. Then she looked over at me.

"Elliot, hi."

"Welcome back Liv," I said in a voice that I knew sounded too forced. We looked at each other, and I tried desperately to think of something. I was still mad at her. Well, mad wasn't the right word. Betrayed? Abandoned? She hadn't told me she was leaving, or how long she would be gone. She had called Fin, but hung up when he tried to give the phone to me. I wasn't mad about everything that had happened when she went over to computer crimes. I was mad that she couldn't trust me enough to tell me what was happening.

She opened her mouth to say something, realizing the rest of the squad standing around looking at us, but then closed it and smiled at someone behind me.

"Hi Kathleen," she said. I turned around to find my 17-year-old daughter standing behind me. The last time she had been here was the end of last school year, to chew me out for talking with her boyfriend. Slowly over the summer, she forgave me though.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" I was startled to see such a difference in her from the last time I saw her. She was starting to change the way she dressed, the way she behaved, the way she spoke even. Overnight, she had gone from daddy's little girl to semi-rebellious teenager, and now to woman.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked me. She didn't seem mad at me- a first for any female in my family visiting me at work.

"Sure." I scanned the precinct quickly and saw an empty interrogation room. "Do you want a doughnut?"

She looked into the box. "Jelly filled? No thanks."

"Hey, don't knock them 'til you've tried them," Munch told her, a sprinkling of powdered sugar covering his lips and nose. I stifled a laugh and guided Kathleen over to the room.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her, pulling down the drapes. I didn't need anyone spying on us.

"Dad, you know how badly I want to go to Princeton, right?"

"You've been talking about it since you were four."

"And you know how hard it is to get in if you're from a public school, right?"

I nodded, although I didn't know if it was true or not. I had always figured there was some kind of quota system,

"So, I applied to a couple of prep schools. And I got into Manhattan Prep. And they're willing to let me start next week, even though the school year's started."

I inhaled sharply. Kathleen had been working hard all through high school, after slacking off in junior high. She had managed to stay within the top three in her class. Had made national honour roll. "Kathleen, that's amazing. But you know we can't afford it. It's-"

"They gave me a full scholarship."

"It's almost an hour-and-a-half commute from home."

"I know. But it's only a fifteen minute subway ride from your apartment."

"You want to move in with me?"

"Dad, this is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. Mom and I can't stop fighting, the twins are driving me crazy, and you have an extra room anyways."

I thought hard. "I'll call your mom. See if we can talk about this tonight. I'm not making any promises, I don't like the idea of you living in the city, and your mom does have custody."

"Thank you!" she cried, jumping up and wrapping her arms around my neck. She had probably decided to not hear me say that it wasn't a sure thing. To her, it was set in stone. But having my daughter happy with me. . . maybe it was worth it.

"Okay, now, come on, you're going to be late for school." She nodded and picked up her bag. I walked her to the front of the unit, and she hugged me again before taking off for school.

"Everything okay?" Liv asked when she was gone."

"Yeah." Again, I tried to find something to say, but nothing came out. Luckily, the captain had something to say.

"Sorry to cut the celebrations short, but Munch, Fin, Casey just called and needs you in court for the Owens case. And Elliot, Olivia, 16-year-old found in central park. Warner's going to meet you there."

"She dead?" I asked.

He nodded grimly. "Her name's Angela Manning. She a student at Lincoln Memorial. I want you two to talk to her parents, then get to the school."

"Elliot, isn't that Kathleen's school?" Liv asked. Her voice was concerned now, like everything from before was gone.

"Her old school," I replied quickly. My mind was made up. I picked up my jacket, and we set out towards Central Park.


	2. Unanswered Questions

_A little bit of a filler chapter, but it does get more interesting, I promise! Thank you to everyone who's left feedback or taken the time to read what I have so far. I really appreciate it :)_

_**Olivia**_

**_Wednesday, September 13th_**

Elliot let me drive. A sure sign that either he was mad, or he was upset. This time, I think it was both.

I could semi-understand why he was mad at me. I had left without saying goodbye. I had played fast and loose with Haley's case. We hadn't even been getting along that well before her case came out. But still, Huang had tried to get a message to me, and he had gotten through on his first try. Elliot didn't try. And he had found Dani . . . maybe it wasn't that he was mad at me, but mad that I wasn't her. Maybe I had pushed her out. Cragen could have sent her back to Warrants.

But why should I feel bad? If he was mad, I had the same right to be. He had been playing fast and loose for months before I requested the transfer. He had been moody and stubborn, and I had never said a thing. Never complained. And then he had just been fine with another partner.

I stopped and looked over at him. He didn't look angry. He had when he had come into the squad, but now he looked worried, distracted. Damn. One of us would have to stop being stubborn first. I decided to give it a shot.

"So you said Kathleen changed schools?"

"Not yet. But she sure as hell isn't going back to her school after this." Silence again. The light turned green, and I started to move again. "She came to see me this morning because she got into Manhattan Prep. They've given her a full scholarship and want her to start next week."

"You sound like you're not sure."

"Well, she wants to move in with me."

"Has she talked to Cathy about this?"

"Oh no, she's left that up to me." He sounded like he was going to continue, but stopped as we drove past the ME's van. Slightly beyond that, I could see where they had blocked off the crime scene, and the inevitable spectators that had gathered around. I pulled into the first parking spot I saw and switched off the engine.

"Are you going to be okay with this?"

He looked up at me, surprised. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I shrugged. "You're wound a little tight, that's all."

"I'm fine. Let's go."

I didn't believe him, but silently followed him.

"Can I help you?" The 12-year-old uniform asked Elliot as we ducked under the crime scene tape. We flashed out badges and he stepped back. Further below, I could see the victim's body covered by a blue sheet. In the sunlight, you could still see the blood stains underneath the sheet.

"Nice to see you back, Detective," Warner greeted me.

"Feds couldn't keep me forever. What happened here?"

"Victim's Angela Manning. Sixteen years old. Her school ID was in her back pocket, along with $50 in cash."

"Cause of death?" Elliot asked.

Warner pulled back the sheet. Angela had been a small girl, with pale blonde hair and perfect skin. Through the middle of her forehead there was a small bullet hole. "She was dumped here naked. There isn't enough blood for her to have been killed here." She pulled back the sheet further to reveal medium and large stab wounds across her body. "I don't know whether it was the bullet of the stab wounds that killed her yet."

"Raped?"

"No fluids, but evidence of vaginal trauma."

"When was she killed?" I asked.

"My best guess, sometime between one and three this morning."

"Anything else we should know?"

"You're probably looking for more than one killer. There were two knives used to stab her. I'll give you a call when I know more."

Elliot and I took off in silence. When we got back in the car, I finally asked the question I had been dreading.

"Did you know her?"

He shook his head. "3000 students in that school. I've never seen her before."

"Where to?"

"Her parents. I don't want uniforms doing this notification."

**_Elliot_**

**_Home of Patrick and Eleanor Manning_**

"How?" Eleanor Manning asked, slowly sitting down.

"We're not too sure yet," Olivia replied in a calm, even tone. She always managed to do that when we did notifications. "But she was shot. We found her body in central park. Do you know where she was last night?"

"She stayed over at her friend's- um, Jenna Mason. I don't like her staying out on weeknights but Patrick talked me into it. She's never been in trouble, she's never let her grades slip. I didn't really have a choice. . . if only I had known." She put her head in her hands and started sobbing. Olivia exchanged glances with me, then sat down beside her and put her hand on Eleanor's small shoulder.

"Mrs. Manning, do you have any other children?"

She nodded. "Andrea's in her second year at NYU, and Alyssa's just started her Masters at Syracuse. . . oh God, I have to let them know."

"We can take care of that for you. Were either of them close with Angela?"

"She and Andrea never got along. . . they just didn't have anything in common. She's close with Alyssa though. Took it kind of hard when she moved last month. Spent last weekend with her." She started sobbing again.

"Did Angela have a boyfriend?" Olivia asked.

She shook her head. "Angela is. . . not picky, but specific. She doesn't really take mediocre. She had gone out with some guys a couple of times, but never anything serious. Was specific. Was. . ."

"We'll need their names. Had Angela ever been in trouble?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, did she have a habit of staying out all night without calling, get into fights, come home drunk. . . anything like that?"

"She has. . . had. . . never been in trouble. Never a problem with school, always let us know where she was. She came home drunk a couple of times over the summer, but it was harmless teenage experimentation. . . she was just down the street with some friends. One of the parents would always walk her home."

I sighed. There wasn't much coming from her, and I couldn't help but wonder how much she didn't know about her daughter. We could ask her again later, when she'd had more time to process.

How the hell did you process something like your daughter's murder though?

"Do you mind if we look around her room, see if we can find something?"

She shook her head. "Go ahead, it's the first door on your right up the stairs. She had just redone it too." I nodded, and silently made my way up there. Olivia followed, and as we reached the top of the stairs, I heard her mother start to cry again. I wondered if she'd ever stop.

Her room was painted a bright blue, drapes wide open. Beside her bed I recognized a poster, one that Kathleen had on her door. Jack Johnson, whoever that was. Olivia was already rummaging through things, trying to find anything that might help us find an answer to her death. Or to who killed her. You could never find an answer to why she died.

"Laptop," she said, unplugging it and tossing it on the bed. "That alone will give us everything we need." She went over to the bookshelf and starting looking through. "Birth control pills, perfume, make-up. . . nothing you wouldn't find in any other teen's room in America."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. Here I was in the bedroom of a girl who yesterday had dreams, had a future, and who left here to never come back again. A girl who could have been any other girl. Including one of mine.

Fuck. It was going to be one of those kinds of cases.

**_Olivia_**

**_Lincoln Memorial High School_**

"This is horrible," Samantha Ortega, the principal of Lincoln said, closing the door to her office. "How did she die?"

"She was murdered," Elliot offered roughly. "What can you tell us about Angela?"

"Nothing off the top of my head. I have over three thousand students here, Detective. Unless they cause major trouble, I don't have much exposure to them. Angela had never been in here. I'll make sure that my secretary has all her files put together for you before you leave."

"Have there been any problems here lately? Gangs, rivalries, fights, drugs, anything like that?"

"All of the above. But no more so than any other school. And I've been involved in those problems, I've personally intervened in all those matters, and Angela has not been involved."

"Angela's mother mentioned she was with a friend of hers last night. . . Jenna Mason. Is she in class today?"

The principal went over to her computer and punched the name in. "She signed in late this morning. She's in Spanish right now. Do you want me to call her down?"

"Please," I said before Elliot could get any snarky comment in.

"Sure. You're welcome to use my office, I'll give you privacy. Whenever you're done with her, could you send her over to the guidance office though? I want to make sure I tell her close friends first. . . they don't need to find out over the loudspeaker. I'll call in some grief counselors the board keeps on hand as well."

"Thank you."

She nodded, then swiftly made her way to the door. She opened it, then stopped and looked at Elliot. "Detective Stabler, right?"

"Yeah."

"Any relation to Kathleen?"

"She's my daughter."

"Thought so. She has your eyes. I'll get Jenna for you."

"Mrs. Ortega said that detectives wanted to see me. Why are you here?" Jenna asked. She was a tall, serious-looking brunette. Her eyes gave away her nervousness beneath her cool exterior.

"We want to talk to you about Angela."

"What about her?"

"We understand you were with her last night."

"Yeah, she came over to work on a project. Is she in some kind of trouble?"

I sat down beside her. "Jenna, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, but Angela was killed last night."

"That's impossible. She was at my place and went straight home. She said she had to get back for dinner. You must have the wrong person."

"She didn't spend the night with you?"

"No, she never does on school nights. My parents would never let her."

"Then why would her mom say she spent the night with you last night?"

"Oh my God." Her shoulders sank, and her eyes began to water. She quickly bit her lip and looked down at the carpet. "She always told her mom she was staying with me if she needed a cover."

"Do you know where she might have gone?"

She shook her head. "She likes a guy. . . Daniel something. . . over at Glen Oaks Private. She's been spending more time with her friends there lately. Maybe one of them would know."

**_Elliot_**

**_SVU Squad room_**

"What do you have so far?" Cragen asked.

"Angela Manning, age 16," I said, putting up one of the pictures her mom had let me take on the wipe board. Beside it, I put up a picture of the crime scene, and the photo of her face, dead, that I had picked up from Warner when we took her parents over to ID the body. "No criminal record, no disciplinary problems at her school. Autopsy's not done yet, tox screen hasn't come back. She was shot in the head and stabbed repeatedly with at least two objects. Warner believes that she was dumped in the park post-mortem. She had told her mother that she was spending the night at her friend's house, her friend doesn't know where she actually was. We have a laptop down at computer crimes seeing if they can find something that tells us where she was last night."

He nodded. "Well, it's going on five, there's not much more you can do right now. Why don't you call it a day?"

I nodded, and he went back into his office. I looked over the board again.

"You heard him," Olivia said, coming up behind me. "We can get out of here on time for once. We're heading over to Malone's. Why don't you join us?"

I shook my head. "I've gotta get over to Kathy's anyways."

"Right. The Kathleen conversation. Good luck with that."

We all said our mumbled good-byes, and I finally picked up my jacket with the intention to leave. But I found myself back at the board, staring at the picture of her from only a month earlier. It didn't make sense. A beautiful young girl who had her whole life in front of her was gone.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Cragen had come out of his office and was studying the board beside me.

I shook my head. "Why would it be?"

"You've been wound a little tight lately. You had finally gotten used to Dani, and now you're back with Olivia, who you haven't gotten along with properly in months."

"Ancient history. We're fine."

"And you and Dani?"

"What about her?"

"Small unit Elliot, people talk."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to compromise the unit's reputation. Besides, it's over."

He nodded. "And the victim being from your daughter's school. . ."

"Captain, you've trusted me for 13 years. Why are you doubting me now?"

"I'm not doubting you Elliot. I'm just making sure."

I nodded. "I know. Just doing your job."

"Yeah. You'll talk to me if this gets too much?"

I nodded, but didn't say anything. That was the good thing about Cragen- he didn't need many words. I didn't need to explain. I stared at the picture a minute longer, then set off to argue with Kathy.


	3. Fights, Fears, and a Suspect

_**Elliot**_

**_Wednesday, September 13th_**

"You're kidding, right?" Kathy asked with an amused smile. She bit into a carrot, then sat down a plate of vegetables and dip on the footstool between us. She looked different now- her hair was lighter, she smiled more. It was like some big weight had been lifted off her. I guess the weight had been me.

They were living in her mom's house. It was hardly a move down for them- the house was slightly larger than the one we had shared. Since her dad had passed away four years ago, her mom hadn't been doing too well on her own. Had we stayed together, her mom probably would have been living with us anyways. Now she just worked. She had someone else to do the cooking and cleaning for her. And her mom was happy to have someone to take care of again. It worked out well for everyone. Except for me, that is.

"No, I'm serious. She got into Manhattan Prep. You know how smart she is."

"I'm not surprised she got in. I live with her, Elliot. I'm the one who makes her go to sleep and who picks up the last-minute supplies for her projects. I'm the one who drives her in on the days she sleeps past her bus because she was up too late studying."

"I get it, Kathy, I really do. Can we not go into how much of a failure I've been as a father today though?"

She sighed. "That wasn't what I was trying to do. But I don't appreciate you talking to me like I don't know our daughter. What I was having trouble believing was that a- she applied, b- they gave her a full scholarship, and c-you're even considering this. Didn't you refer to Manhattan Prep as "The Rich Prick" School?"

I shrugged. "This isn't about me. And this isn't about you. This is about what's best for _our_ daughter." She rolled her eyes at the word _our_. "She said you two hadn't been getting along lately. What's that about?"

"She's seventeen, Elliot. We fight. It happens."

"It was never like this with Maureen."

"How would you know?" she snapped. "Kathleen's bored with school, it makes her moody."

"Even more reason to let her change. Let's suspend reality for a second here, and think of what's best for her. She wants to go to Princeton, and she's got the grades for it. From public school. She's not going to be able to compete with everyone coming from their private schools. And we both know that there's no way we can afford to pay for it, even if she gets in. She can get a scholarship this way."

Before Kathy had a chance to answer, the front door slammed and Kathleen came into the living room, her school bag slung over one shoulder. "Sorry, I had to stay late. Whose side am I on?"

"No one's," I told her, motioning to an empty armchair. "We're throwing around ideas."

"I'm not comfortable with you spending ninety minutes a day on the subway," Kathy told her.

Kathleen popped a cherry tomato into her mouth and chewed quickly. "That's why I want to move in with dad." She looked over at me, then back at Kathy and her eyes grew wide. "You hadn't gotten to that yet, had you?"

"Move in with you?" She glared at me.

"Don't get mad at him," Kathleen said quickly. "You always blame him. This was my idea. It makes more sense. Besides, it would be nice to not spend an hour fighting with you _every_ night."

"Don't be so dramatic." She turned to me. "Fine, she moves in with you. Then what happens when you work late, stay out all night? Who's going to take care of her then?"

"Uh, I'm still in the room. I'm seventeen mom. I can take care of myself. I know how to make dinner and do my own laundry."

Kathy stared at me, tight lipped. I knew I had won, despite not knowing myself whether it would work or not.

"We have to establish some very serious ground rules. And the first sign of trouble, you're moving back home."

I didn't sleep much that night. Kathy's last words kept playing over in my mind.

"_El_," she had said softly when I was about to leave. "_That girl from Kathleen's school they found. . ._"

"_How did you hear about that?"_ The media had been on tight orders not to report her death until tomorrow.

"_One of the doctors I work with told me that she had to go get her daughter. . . that she had called and said that detectives had come to her school to talk to her. That he best friend was killed. You caught that case, didn't you?_"

"_How do you know?"_

She shrugged. "_I know you Elliot. I know how you react to certain situations. And I know that that had to have come into consideration when you were thinking about this._"

"_That's why you gave in so quickly?_"

She nodded. "_I know this is going to sound ironic coming from me but find him. Find him and make sure he can never do it again._"

"_Why would that be ironic?_"

"_Because that's why we split up_."

"_We split up because you didn't love me anymore._"

She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them again without looking at me. Her evasiveness was a sure sign she was crying. "_I'll see you Saturday._"

I didn't know how I was going to do this. It was like becoming a dad all over again. But worse. This time I didn't have Kathy to screw up with me. But this wasn't two-AM feedings and diaper duty. It was waiting 'til she came home and two and hoping nothing was pierced or tattooed.

Would I be able to do this? Could I really be there for Kathleen? She was a middle child, and she did know how to take care of herself. But if I wasn't around, would she be able to sneak out without me finding out? Would she bring friends over and drink?

Would I completely fail?

_**Olivia**_

**_Thursday, September 14th_**

_**ME's Office**_

"Do we have a cause of death?" Elliot asked Warner the next morning.

She shook her head. "I can't figure it out. But it wasn't the bullet or the stab wounds that killed her."

"How do you know that?"

"She hadn't lost enough blood. If her heard had been beating when either happened, there would have been considerable blood loss. There was almost none here. And even on the smaller stab wounds, there's no swelling, which would have had time to happen before she died."

"Did you run a tox screen?" I asked.

She nodded and brought out the paper. "It was negative for all the standard tests. No drugs, but she had a blood alcohol of almost 0.2."

"Could it have been alcohol poisoning?"

She shook her head. "I checked her stomach contents- if she had had poisoning, she would have thrown up before she passed out. Her stomach was still full."

"So you're telling me that an otherwise healthy sixteen year old just dropped dead and we can't figure out why?" I could hear the tension in Elliot's voice.

"Could she have had any medical conditions?" I asked, trying to diffuse him.

"Nothing in her medical history other than a couple of broken bones."

"Maybe she fell. . . she passed out and hit her head or something?"

Warner shook her head again. "I'll keep looking, running other tests. I'll send out her blood for more complete screening. But that will take a couple of days."

"This is ridiculous."

"I get it, detective," Warner said with annoyance creeping into her voice. "I'll see what I can do. I've sent the bullet over to ballistics. They might have something."

"Detectives," Morales greeted us as soon as we walked in. "I was about to call you."

"You found something?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, we got into her computer system. There was nothing really out of the ordinary, except for a couple of e-mails to a Daniel Stephens talking about a party two nights ago." I looked over at the screen and read over the coordinates for the party. It was to take place on the Upper West Side, not far from where we found her body. Elliot's phone rang and he went out of earshot to answer. A minute later he came back.

"El," I said, slipping up. We weren't that close anymore. I didn't feel like I should be calling him by a nickname. "What was the name of the boy Angela's friend mentioned?"

"Daniel, why?"

"We may have found where she was Tuesday night."

"We might not have to. That was ballistics. They matched the gun that shot Angela in the head."

"Registered?"

"To a Wayne Miller. He was just paroled from Rikers."

"What was he in for?"

"Rape and manslaughter."

"Where is he now?"

_**Elliot**_

_**Frank's Auto Body Shop**_

"Can I help you?" the brown haired receptionist asked with a crack of her gum.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Wayne Miller?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Why you lookin' for him?"

"We think he might have witnessed a crime last night. I just want to see if he knows anything."

She shrugged and pushed her long fingernail against the intercom system.

"Wayne," she yelled shrilly.

"What?" through the glass looking out to where the workers were, I could see him respond.

"Someone's here to see you."

"Who."

"I don't know. Some police dude and chick."

For a second he froze, then bolted out the door. I pushed my way through the door marked "No Entry" and started running after him. He was fast, but I managed to get him back in my line of vision. From the other side came Olivia, running faster than I remembered her running before. She quickly grabbed him and forced him onto the floor.

"Wayne Miller," she began, "you're under arrest for the murder of Angela Manning. You have the right to remain silent. . ."

Back at the precinct, he refused to talk to us. He just called his lawyer and barked some instructions at her. Olivia and I waited in the lounge until she came.

"I heard you moved," I said slowly, trying not to sound too nosy.

"Yeah. The Feds got someone into my apartment right away, and they're not willing to leave anytime soon. They owed me money for that, plus my closing bonus, and eight weeks of back pay. I decided to put a down payment on a townhouse instead of trying to find another apartment."

"How is it?"

She laughed. "It's gutted. The only rooms that still exist are the bathrooms. I was planning on taking some time off to work on it."

"What happened?"

"Cragen called, said you needed a partner. Turns out staying away is harder than I ever thought."

I was going to say more, but I spotted Roger Kressler entering the unit. We both headed down the stairs. "Hello detectives, I see you've managed to arrest the wrong client of mine yet again. Where is Mr. Miller?"

"Interrogation two. We'll take you there."

"Why don't you join us?" he suggested. I exchanged glances with Olivia and followed him in."

"Did you bring it?" Wayne asked quickly?

"I sure did." Kressler put down his suit case, opened it up, and handed me a police report.

"What is this?" I asked.

"You can confirm this with the cops who took his statement, but I think you can see that's an authentic report. Mr. Miller was robbed two weeks ago, and under missing items is the gun used in the murder in question. I know that we're supposed to leave the detective work to the police, but this one's a no-brainer. You're looking for whoever robbed my client. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got a complaint to write up."


End file.
